A Single Chocolate Rose
by Moonshine 369
Summary: On Valentine's day, Lily expects extravagant stalkerish presents from James, her not-so-secret admirer, but instead he comes up short, giving her one chocolate rose -- surely there must be a motive. Or maybe no motive IS his motive.


**Yay, a oneshot! I wrote this like five years ago. Probably not, since that would put me at eight, but you get the idea. And I was looking through my stuff on my computer and found it, so I did a little editing and decided to post it. That's just so you'll know why it's kind of not so good, and really corny. 3  
Anyway, enjoy, and review!**

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except for Olivia, & the plot.**

* * *

Ah, St. Valentine's Day. If only you could see the joy that it brought to the young students at Hogwarts. Giving, receiving, admitting, blushing, all of it brought a smile to their faces. The Great Hall was decorated, as expected, extravagantly, about every shade of pink you could imagine being included in a vast array of overdone celebration. The room was full of warmth of love, joy, and, well, pinkness.

A certain Lily Evans did not like love and joy that much, at least not the kind caused by this trainload of overflowing emotions in the room. And she didn't have a very big taste for pinkness, either.  
It wasn't always like this, it was just something that had recently happened to her, arond the time that she realized that she'd be spending all of her Valentine's days for the next few years only a short distance from James Potter a few years back. Which led to realizing that for Valentine's day, sadly, Lily Evans was screwed.

She muddled through the Great Hall as best she could manage without getting trampled by lovesick Gryffindors as she tried to make it to the table. The floor was layered with paper hearts, scraps of pink and red paper, and wrappers from candies and such. It was a wonder she could even walk. It wouldn't be half as miserable if it weren't for the fact that basically everyone she knew was here, and basically all of them were grinning like lovesick puppies.

So maybe that was an overstatement.

Alice's cheeks were flushed pink as she walked up to Lily, probably the result of one Valentine's Day event or another. Nothing about this holiday was too surprising anymore; things tended to repeat themselves.

Lily's own ghoulish thoughts were starting to creep even herself out.

"He did it, Lily! Finally!" Alice squealed, excitedly. It didn't take much to work up Alice. She could get the same amount of happiness out of something as significant as perfect N.E.W.T.,s or something as insignificant as getting the last pudding pop; simple pleasures for simple minds, eh? But this pleasure seemed to be more in the N.E.W.T.s range.

"What?" Lily questioned patiently, tilting her head to the side as if Alice's Valentine's Day tale interested her in any way whatsoever. "Who did what?"

"Frank! Longbottom! Finally! He asked me out!" Alice looked as if exerted any more energy, she may faint.

"That's wonderful, Alice," Lily said sisterly. "I'm happy for you." Maybe that was over selling it.

"Funny," Alice noted, with a tone of mock bitterness in her voice, her bright expression fading, if only a little. "You don't look it."

"Oh, I am, really. It's just that _mine_ hasn't, not yet. And I'm a bit anxious; this is his last Valentine's Day with me, and I'm guessing he'll go over the top."

Alice shook her head, obviously confused and still dizzy from her run-in with Frank. "Who are we talking about?"

Lily sighed, and felt a wave of self pity wash over her. Her friends didn't understand that though she didn't cause it, most of her life revolved around James Potter. Avoiding him, preparing to be pranked, and ignoring him, things like that. Of course, why would they need to understand, when they'd never had personal stalkers themselves?

"Potter." Lily always managed to spit the word, like it was a curse. "Have you seen him?"

Alice shook her head again. "Nope, neither him nor his friends. Which means they're probably up to something, so good luck. I have to go tell everyone else about Frank." Alice said, rocking on her heels happily.

"Catch up with you later, Alice," Lily said. Alice nodded and grinned over her shoulder as she walked off to spread her good news. _She looks like a drunken flowergirl, _Lily thought briefly, imagining alice with a veil on and a basket of flowers. Wow.

Lily continued her walk to the table, and managed to secure a seat this time, next to another one of her red-cheeked friends, Olivia. Her black hair curled into rings in the pony tail that she had so expertly fastened on her shoulder, and her normally olive cheeks were stained red as she stared into space. Normally this would be commonplace to Lily, and she'd ignore it, but Olivia looked a tad more out of place than normal today.

This whole experience was making Lily question her choices in friends. Were all of them bordering insane?

"Olivia?" Lily questioned. She was getting rather impatient with lovesick friends.

"Hmmm?" Olivia hummed, turning her face slightly towards Lily while keeping her eyes fixed on something in the distance.

Lily traced her eye line and discovered that she wasn't staring into space, but rather at a certain, unmistakable Sirius Black, who had a handful of red roses, and also the waist of a pretty Hufflepuff girl in his grasp.

"He's been giving out roses all morning," Olivia sighed, finally giving Lily her full attention. "And all the girls melt into his hands. It's so frustrating."

Lily raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Olivia, you broke up with him in October. You just want him back because he's taken."

"Well…no, but he…Lily, you're…" her words jumbled into each other as she realized that Lily was right.

"Oh, god," Lily groaned as she saw one James Potter heading in their direction. Though she had to admit, it was better he was in sight. When he was out of sight, who knows what he was doing? "Hide me," she begged.

Olivia shook her head spitefully. "I think it's kind of amusing how he's always trying new ways to win you over. He's really crafty, Lily, and I think it's adorable." She pursed her lips. _Definitely bad judgement in friends, _Lily thought briefly.

"Oh? Then maybe you should go out with him, and then maybe he'd leave me alone," she snapped.

Olivia pursed her lips and smiled as James sat across from Lily, who scowled and looked up at the ceiling as if questioning god why he put her in this position.

"Happy Valentine's Day, James," Olivia said sisterly.

"You too, Liv. Oh, that reminds me. I think Sirius was looking for you earlier." James's voice was casual and courteous, with no hint of slyness or mockery in it, which Lily found sorely unusual.

Lily could tell that Olivia was trying to act like it was no big deal. "Oh, really?"

James nodded. "Mmhmm. I think he's got something from Hogsmead for you. But he'll probably just give it to someone else if you really don't want it," he added with a shrug.

Olivia stood up. "You know I hate to see perfectly good spoils go to waste. See you later." James nodded as Olivia walked off, regardless of Lily's silent protests. Lily, in defense, put her head in her folded arms in the table, and silently prayed that James would leave, despite herself.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Lilykins," James said softly. Lily thought that she might have heard a touch of honest affection. But he probably just had a cold.

Lily lifted her head up painstakingly. "Let's get this over with, Potter," she pleaded.

"Get what over with?" He gave her a puppy dog look, as if he were actually confused about what she were talking about.

"This Valentine's Day--" Lily stopped short and thought of a proper word. "_Chaos."_

"I don't know. Maybe I'd like to save it for tonight. Evening is the most romantic time of the day, you know."

Lily narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do you really want it now?"

"Yes."

"Do you really, _really_ want it?"

Lily considered the question.

"No."

James acted as if he hadn't heard her. Instead, he produced a single rose. The top, flower part, must've been chocolate, Lily noted, because it was wrapped in red foil in the shape of an actual rose. The stem was plastic. Nothing interesting about it. It could have been bought for fifty cents at any muggle store, from the looks of it. Lily raised her eyebrows at him questioningly.

"That is, only if you want it."

Lily stared at the rose for a few seconds, half analyzing it, half expecting it to explode.

"Potter."

"Yes?"

"It's a rose."

"Not just _any_ rose. It's _chocolate_!"

"It's _a_ chocolate rose. A single chocolate rose."

"Mmm, yup."

Lily stared at the rose for a few more seconds, while James stared at her, clearly amused.

"A single chocolate r--"

"Yes!" James cut her off. "Yes, Evans, it's a single chocolate rose. And if you don't want it then I'll have it back," he offered, reaching his hand across the table to accept it. Lily couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not.

They sat in silence for a moment, staring each other down, each being too full of her or himself to break it off. James finally stood up, theatrically brushed off his robes, and walked off.

"A single chocolate rose," Lily mumbled to herself when he was out of earshot.

Unaware of her actions, she peeled back the red foil and took a bite out of the chocolate, watching James exit the Great Hall.

Safely away from the hassle of Valentine's Day, enjoying the fire fighting against the cold February wind, Lily Evans felt the last of James's chocolate rose melt in her mouth. The common room was empty, and Lily assumed that this was because of the fact that most of the Gryffindors were either upstairs in their dormitories telling stories about the day, or downstairs in the Great Hall continuing on with the Valentines' day drama. As she crumpled up the red foil into a ball and tossed it to the floor, the door swung open, revealing two of Lily's closest friends.

"Oh, God, Lily, not the rose!" Olivia cried immediately. Lily gave her a questioning look, and eyed the plastic stem she held. Was it Olivia's? _My bad._

"Lily, please tell me that that's not the stem from a rose—from that rose that James gave you…" Alice studied Lily's bashful expression. "Oh, god."

"What?" Lily demanded, although she thought she already knew the answer. God, how could she be so careless?

"Spiked!" Olivia cried, nodding hastily. "Love potion. All of them. James only gave out one, to you, but did you see how many Sirius gave out? This is going to be terrible!"

"How do you know?" Lily asked, slightly in denial.

"It's all around, Lily. This is the Marauder's last year here. Of course they were going to do something giant. I just saw Jamie Shaw nearly tackle Sirius Black—it's getting out of control!" Olivia said, nearly frantic.

Lily's eyes glazed over as she stared into space. "Funny—I don't feel any different."

Alice gave her a concerned look. "You feel _okay_, Lils?"

"Yeah, actually, I feel fine. Maybe… Maybe Potter _didn't_ spike mine," Lily suggested.

Alice shook her head in pity. "I don't think so, Lily…"

Lily stood up. "Where's Remus?" she asked fiercely.

"I don't know," Olivia said, quietly.

Lily stormed past her out the door, in a flurry. Olivia and Alice exchanged a silent glance, and then followed. When she needed something done, she got it done, it was the kind of person she was, and this was over the top. I mean, honestly, spiking a rose on Valentine's Day. And the worst part was that Lily was too stupid to even consider it! She mentally slapped herself. Ouch.

She spotted Remus quickly, walking towards the common room. She stopped him, glaring. Obviously, he knew what it was about.

"Oh, uh, hi, Lily," he said, retreating a step. Remus was definitely the most practical of all the Marauders. He knew when to act dumb and when not to. When it came to Lily, it was the latter or something probably close to torture.

"Are there really love potions going around?" Lily asked, calmly. Her arms were folded over her chest. She meant business, but refused to get angry. Not with Remus, anyway; she'd save that for James, later on.

Remus pretended to consider this. "I'd guess; it's Valentine's Day," he pointed out.

"Yes, yes, but I mean from those friends of yours. Black and Potter."

Remus nodded silently.

Lily shook her head in confusion. She knew her potions and the effects of this one. "That's impossible. It would have kicked in by now, right? I don't feel anything," she repeated.

Remus shrugged, remaining ever-cautious. "I honestly don't know, Lily. He could have decided not to spike yours, but that's not... like him." He winced up at her, as if she'd strike him on account of reporting James's tactics. Hastily, he continued, "And the only other thing I could guess that happened – that is, with you saying that you really don't feel any effects of the potion – is that Sirius used most of the potion and left James just a drop, meaning it wouldn't be as effective.."

Lily frowned, immediately recognizing a flaw in Remus's statement. "That wouldn't cause the effects to be less effective, Remus. It just makes them kick in slower."

Remus remained silent, staring at Lily in concern, as she stared into space over his shoulder.

"Okay, thanks, Remus," she said finally, flicked her wrist in a tiny wave, and walked back to her common room, quickly, not caring to notice that Olivia and Alice weren't there follow behind her.

It wasn't until Lily was standing right outside Gryffindor Tower that Alice alone finally caught up with her. "Lily," she panted. "Olivia's gone mad. Completely mad, Lily. She slipped away while you were talking to Remus, and I-" she panted a bit more. "I followed her. I lost her after a minute, and then I finally found her, in a-a-a broom closet with Sirius Black." She gave Lily a cautious look. "And I don't think it was just because she still has a crush on him."

Lily threw her head back and groaned. "Those Goddamn Marauders!"

Alice gestured over her shoulder hastily. "I'm going try to help Olivia. You- you go see if your rose was spiked or not." Without waiting for a response, Alice was scrambling off.

Lily sighed, full of annoyance and resentment. "_Aprirediremoi_," she mumbled to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open, revealing the, still empty, common room.

So James wasn't here. She'd have to look around Hogwarts for him. She groaned inwardly; why couldn't things just be easy for a change? She muddled upstairs and pulled on her sweater and a scarf for warmth, and then scurried downstairs and headed towards the Great Hall. She'd try there first.

As Lily looked around the common room, she felt a wave of strong emotion. It was almost physical, like warm, fuzzy blanket being wrapped around her, and she immediately thought of James. First she just thought of his appearance; his messy, black hair, fun loving hazel eyes, dorky yet adorable glasses, that irresistible crooked grin of his. She tried to shake his image out of her head as she wove through student after student, not seeing James, Remus, Sirius, or even Peter, but her mind refused to erase, or even cover up the image of his face.

She walked through the main corridors, and another wave of strong emotion washed over her, this time she could identify it as heavy, strong affection. _Why do I hate James so much, anyway?_, she found herself thinking. _Because of my headstrong attitude._ Even in her mind, she knew it was true. _He's really not that bad_, her thoughts told her. It was strange, like having someone talk to you from inside your own mind. Lily found herself getting a headache.

_There's no reason to treat him so badly. He'd be really kind if I gave him a chance. I don't think he does what he does for the reputation. I think he does it because that's the kind of person he is, and he does it because he really, honestly likes me._ Where were these thoughts coming from? Surely it couldn't be herself thinking them!

On the grounds, Lily spotted James straight off. He was sitting under the oak tree that the Marauder's usually sat at, on a thick root as to not have to sit in the thick layer of snow. His head was leaning back against the tree, and he was listening to something that Remus, pacing back and forth in front of him, was saying. Peter was sitting – on the snow, unsurprisingly – beside him.

Lily's head spun as she approached him, tightening her scarf. A small part of her mind wanted to hex him as hard as she could for spiking her rose, but a much larger part wanted to ask him to marry her. Images of a wedding started taking place in her head. Olivia as the bridesmaid, Alice, fittingly, the flower girl... _You may now kiss the bride..._ With more difficulty, she shook the thought away.

James noticed her before she got to him. He glanced questioningly at Remus, who didn't respond, but rather turned his head to face Lily as well. James stood up and tugged on his sweater sleeve nervously as Lily approached him.

The 'Will You Marry Me' part of Lily's mind took over.

She was aware of what she was doing, but, sadly, felt absolutely no control over her actions. For instance, she was aware that her hand was sliding up his forearm, that her feet were moving closer thus closing in the distance between then, and that her face was leaning into his.

"Happy Valentine's Day, James," she said quietly into his ear. She felt his arm, warmly though cautiously and slightly restrained, slide its way around her waist. She couldn't think of anything more pleasurable than the feeling of his arm warming her body. And she kissed him, right there, right in front of everyone, anyone on the grounds who was watching. It was surprisingly chaste, and James didn't ask for anything more. It lasted all of three seconds.

James released Lily and leaned back as if to get a better look at her. "Evans—are you feeling alright?"

Lily nodded, casually.

James turned to glance at Remus who shrugged, saying that he was as equally confused as James was.

"Lily, can I talk to you?" he asked carefully, a hand flying though his hair.

"Sure," she said, immediately, and followed James where he led, out of earshot from his two friends and basically everyone on the grounds, most of whom were staring at them.

"Okay, Evans, what's up with you?" he asked immediately.

Lily shrugged. James was acting strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"What am I talking about?" James raised his voice, but quickly calmed himself down. "Evans-Lily- you just kissed me."

"Yeah? So?" She'd honestly expected him to be a bit happier than this.

He squinted at her as if trying to read her mind. He glanced behind her at Remus, and then his eyebrows raised into his hair as he remembered something. A grin spread across his face. "Evans, tell me _why_ you like me," he said, slowly.

Lily raised an eyebrow at him, confused, but gave in, barely aware of her actions. "Well, you're clever and funny, you're bright and ambitious, you don't seem to care what the others think – though they love you anyway…" she looked up at him as if questioning him if she should continue. "You're just a really likeable, attractive person."

James burst out laughing. "Wish I could've recorded that," he snorted.

Lily frowned. What was so funny?

"Evans, why are you being so honest?" He took a step towards her. The mood got more dense, although the grin didn't fall from his face. She could feel his hand on her arm.

She shook her throbbing head. "I don't know. I'm guessing it has something to do with that love potion you put in that chocolate rose this morning."

James chuckled again. "So you really, really, at least _think_ you feel all that stuff t'wards me?"

Lily nodded cautiously.

"That's funny."

Lily already knew he found it funny; he had already laughed twice at a joke she didn't understand.

He leaned into her and kissed her again without warning, but Lily didn't object. His lips felt soft against hers, and his embrace warmed her against the freezing cold wind.

He broke off and whispered into her ear. "That rose wasn't spiked."

Lily released herself, slightly annoyed. So this was all fake, huh? All these emotions and feelings…

But she realized his point. It wasn't bogus. The emotions were real. She had just admitted to herself, and to him, that she was madly in love.

Without realizing what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

"Damnit, James Potter, you win again."

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Review or die!**


End file.
